The purpose of the conference, "Effectiveness and Outcomes of Health Care Services: Implications for Nursing", sponsored by the American Nurses' Association and AHCPR is 1) to share information with key nursing leaders about current public and private developments regarding the effectiveness and appropriateness of and payment for health care services; and 2) to further clarify for the profession the methods to coordinate, develop, disseminate and evaluate practice guidelines. The specific aims of the conference are to 1) describe nursing's role and accountability to society to improve the effectiveness and appropriateness of health care services; 2) recognize nursing as one of the critical components to be considered in the evaluation of health care services; 3) describe current information about federal and private initiatives regarding effectiveness and appropriateness of health care services; 4) describe the recent findings and recommendations of the panel of nurses convened by AHCPR regarding the definition, development and dissemination of practice guidelines and the research plan to support the development of guidelines; 5) understand the relationship of the activities of AHCPR with activities currently underway at Health Care Financing Administration, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, National Library of Medicine, National Center for Nursing Research and Division on Nursing; 6) disseminate the definitions and attributes of standards of practice and guidelines for practice; 7) refine and clarify recommendations to AHCPR about methods to coordinate, develop, disseminate and evaluate practice guidelines; and 8) clarify and refine recommendations to AHCPR regarding a nursing research plan for practice based guidelines. Invitations will be sent to three hundred key nurse leaders. This includes: AHCPR panel of nurses, Tri-Council, Nursing Organization Liaison Forum, Constituent Assembly, Task Force on Nursing Practice Standards and Guidelines, and American Hospital Association Center for Nursing Practice. The conference will be divided into six (6) panel presentations with ample opportunity for questions and conference participants will receive an agenda and background materials prior to the meeting. An executive summary of the proceedings will be provided to attendees within forty-five (45) working days.